AGONY →percy jackson

7. so the quest REALLY begins

Percy's absence from dinner and to the campfire wasn't unnoticed by Daphne. It was baffling how mad he was about not going on the quest. For once, he wasn't on a quest risking his life, and actually had the time to appreciate camp, and its upsides. To her, that was such a plus.

The campfire was the same as always, even with their low numbers. It burned a bright yellow, and sometimes flickered a nervous green. Aerith kept elbowing Daphne in the ribs, grinning and smiling. "Look at you! You go on one extraction mission and now you're going on quests..." She wiped an eye dramatically. "Kids. They grow up so fast."

"Aer." sighed Daphne. "First off, I'm five months older than you. Second, you're acting like I'm famous or something. It's just a quest!"

"Oh come on, two years ago that was a huge deal. An honor!" She shook her friend by the shoulders. "That hunter of Artemis specifically requested you, not that silly Percy Jackson. Finally, get someone else in the spotlight for once!"

Daphne forced a laugh. "Not me. He can keep the spotlight ."

As the amphitheater cleared out, Chiron and Grover went looking for him. Daphne wasn't sure what happened — or too interested — but she was sure it ended with Chiron giving one of his uninteresting lectures that seemed to last for a lifetime. In actuality it was really only five minutes, but when a three-thousand year old horse guy starts lecturing you...

Somehow, she managed to dodge everyone and headed straight to her cabin. Her first quest was tomorrow, at first light, which wasn't too long from now. There was no way she could afford to be exhausted. Once she snuggled back in the comforts of her bed, she was out cold.

Her dreams that night were weird. They didn't exactly correlate with one another, yet shared a person,

Artemis.

So they started off like this . . .

She was sprinting through the forest. Except it wasn't her, since she couldn't control her own movements. It was like she was playing first person in a video game.

Wind lapped at her curly hair as she ran. Her dress, a sort of beige color, was dirtied at the hem. Her surroundings consisted of trees, foliage, and the natural sounds of the forest. The moon shone bright above dark clouds in the sky. Petrichor lingered in the air.

Dirt was being crunched under boots a great distance away. Heavier footsteps than the light ones she possessed. She was being followed, presumably by a man. Her movements were quick, nimble, as if she'd done this a hundred times before. Every exposed tree root was jumped over, and discarded sticks were breezed past.

A sharp pain was coming from her upper bicep, she peered over; a nasty gash on her arm. It didn't look to be infected, but it was an open wound left untreated. It stung heavily.

A wave of nausea was starting to weigh her down, yet somehow, she managed to stay sprinting.

She spared a glance behind her, just to see the distance between her and the mystery man. He was a great distance away, huffing and screaming curses to her name. Distracted, she'd tripped over a tree root and landed hands first on mushy soil. Her heart fell to the floor and she quickly tried to scramble to her feet, but slipped.

The man managed to catch up to her.

Her head was reeling. Get up. Get up! She tried to urge herself, but she couldn't move. In a fight-or-flight situation, she chose to freeze. A memory within the dream started to play in the back of her mind.